good evening. tonight in your only local news at 7:00, up in smoke. investigators are trying to figure out what started the fire that destroyed eight three houses and damaged five others. turn up the ac. we are going to break the record. top? >> we shattered some records no doubt. we will start with that. 99 at national. a new record high. shattering the old record of 94 set back in 1970. 97 at dulles shattering the old

record of 92, also set back in 1970. didn't quite make it in martinsburg and we tied it in baltimore at 95. doesn't count unless you break it and we did shatter it. also the 66th day we have hit 90 or higher for the year. it is still warm out. breezy and still hot. 90 in manassas. upper 80s in gaithersburg and 91 frederick. warm for high school football. eventually tonight clear to partly cloudy and mild. 64 to 70 for lows. winds southwest at 10 to 15. we will come back and talk about the weekend. big changes in store. i'm lindsey mastis in washington. the results are in and it's probably no surprise. we had the worst summer in the country. that's according to the weather channel. not only was it hot but there were bad storms in july and august. >> sometimes business shut down when it rained a lot. >> reporter: temperatures are again in the 90s. step foot on the national and

you will work up a sweat. >> it is hot. get water moving. >> it is not as bad as in july, no. >> reporter: but some people are feeling it a little more than others. pat apple has one of the hottest jobs, driving people around in a pedicab. >> i looked at the bike and started to sweat. like my body knew. i know the heat is what is going to end my day today. not necessarily the fatigue in my legs which is typically the case. >> reporter: i'm surae chinn in manassas where you can see devastation everywhere. the fire wiped out three homes, damaging five others but it doesn't continental pair to the emotional devastation. this family overcome by the heart breaking loss realizing everything they owned burned with their home. and a man so upset he bangs his head on a wooden post. >> chaos. never seen anything like this

in my life. >> reporter: investigator says it started on the back porch of the center of three homes. despite the emotional scars and this long path to rebuilding they have got each other. >> we are like a family here. somebody hurts we all hurt, yawn? thank god nobody got hurt. homes come back but human beings doesn't come back. >> reporter: the big question tonight, what could have prevented the fire in manassas from taking down house after house. perhaps more distance between those homes. the manassas fire marshal says the fact the homes were built so close together, 10 to 15 feet apart certainly helped the fire to spread faster an he says perhaps sprinklers would have slowed the flames down and he disagrees with the national home building association which argues sprinklers do nothing to stop fire coming from the outside of the home. >> came from the outside which means it went inside. so as soon as it would hit the fist barrier of sprinkler and we have water application we probably could have held the

fire in check at that point until the fire department came and extinguished it the rest of the way. >> reporter: fire prevention organizations have been pushing to get residential sprinklers required in all new homes. builders resisted because it will grief up the cost of a new home thaw they say they need to weigh the losses against the added costs. montgomery county plans to hold a series of open houses at its fire station marking fire prevention month. this year's theme, smoke alarms, a sound you can live with. the open house will feature a tour tours of the station. fire safety activities and demonstrations of the energy equipment and you can see the list at wusa9.com. click on 9 news extras. today an apology from virginia's governor. you may remember when the proclaimed april to be confederate history month, the governor has a change of heart now and is renaming the month and has admitted he offended the lot of folks the first time

around. >> reporter: the governor called it an error of taste, not heart, saying my major omission of livery hurt a lot of people, myself included. and the governor is now officially changing it to the civil war in virginia month. folks we spoke to here in northern virginia accept the apology but many have mixed reactions regarding his message and the meaning. >> i will accept his apology. i don't think he's a racist. >> i think the civil war is over with. let's move on. he kind of wants to take us back in history. that's done w. let's start a new patten. >> reporter: in old town, alexandria, blocks from the confederate soldiers staff too chew concern about striking the right balance between paying homage to the tate's history and being sensitive and forward moving. >> i thought it was backwards and going opposite of where we are trying to go. >> i think he should have made

a wiser decision because you see the world is diversion so for him making the move we don't want to be racial to anyone. we need to stick together. >> reporter: in alexandria, 9 news now. >> the new name takes effect on april 2011. so what do you think? is marking the civil war in virginia an improvement over confederate history month or does a rose by any other name smell just as sweet or as bitter, whatever the case. share your thoughts with mcginty's mail bag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. this just in. a case of going bad to worse and fast. in dc, a driver lost control of his car. the car ran off the road and, as you can see there, it ran smack in to a house. then the car caught fire and you guessed it, the flames spread to the house. all of this took place a short while ago along the 1900 block of gayle street in northeast. firefighters are on the scene and they have the fire out. they say nobody was home. the driver suffered serious

injuries and is now in the hospital. get ready for almost three years worth of work in the rosslyn section of arlington. early next month the traffic pattern will change along north moore streets in preparation for an expansion of the rosslyn metro. ten of thousands of commuters passed through rosslyn. that's the busiest metro station in virginia every day. right now there's just one entrance. work to add another entrance and three elevators ought to be done in the spring of 2013. we all know friday can be a tough night to get out of town. patranya bhoolsuwan in the traffic center. how's it going? >> it is very trying if you take 95 in -- 295 in dc toward the beltway. an overturned vehicle has shut down all lanes. delayed back up to the 11th street bridge. it will take drivers 30 minutes. take 495 to get around this. in bethesda, another incident to watch for. water main break is shutting down all lanes here as well. this is east-west highway at montgomery avenue. crews are out there.

expect lane closures to be there for sometime. we will wrap up with good news. 395 in virginia, all lanes are open. also on the toll road 66 and route 7. derek, back to you. another commuter alert. this time about the beltway near telegraph road. look for lanes and ramps to be closed tonight as part of the wilson bridge project. the crews will be repaving and marking ramps and lanes and the work is scheduled to start in about two hours and it will be done by noon tomorrow. tomorrow in arlington, the wilson and childrenton boulevard will be shut down between washington boulevard and north garfield streets. it is all for the annual children on the day celebration. it will be closed 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. serious business or political spectacle? still to come some of stephen colbert's testimony on captiol hill. and why sometimes it is a good idea to pack your own parachute. seriously.

the story is up connection next.

the sixth amendment of the constitution garns you the right to a speedy trial. but lawyers for the man accused of stabbing five people in michigan say they don't need one. hi is also suspected in three stabbings in lees bug, another in ohio. he is facing a murder count and five attempted murder charges in michigan. in belgium, headlines are filled with the details of a trial surrounding a deadly love triangle. a 26-year-old woman is charged with cutting the parachute of her 88-year-old romantic rival -- 38-year-old romantic rival. both women were in love with the parachuter and they were jumping together but the woman's parachute didn't open.

students a at the university of virginia spent the day talking to each other trying to stop violence around them. the dialogue was spur bad think myrrh of love. a series of discussions about campus safety and violence prevention highlighted the day's events. love's exboyfriend is charged in her death. uva president theresa sullivan says the day of dialogue is the first step in building a stronger, more caring community. still ahead, topper is back with a look at the weekend forecast. but first questions about the health risks your kids may be taking just by setting foot on local fields. you will want to be here for that one.

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[ male announcer ] capital one bank. the most branches and atms in the dc area. what's in your wallet? ove, go long! tonight marks the fourth week of high school football in our area don't forget to log on to dc.high schoolsports.net for the stats, stallings and features. the games include -- you can call in your scores and then tune in on the at 11:00 for the highlights and the scores. a lot of local teams play their games on synthetic turf fields. after all, it is cheaper to maintain than old-fashioned grass but some parents have concerns. a hidden layer of crumbled rubber helped to create the cushiony field on the field but

it contains potentially toxic chemicals like lead and arsenic. the young children they say are not at risk but the western montgomery county citizens advisory board is asking them to welcome in to it. they want to have it checked out and with a close eye on any new scientific information. breaking news in the case of a man accused of killing a pitcher from maryland. a judge has just issued a partial verdict against andrew gallo. he found him guilty of driving with a suspended license. he is accused of killing l.a. angels pitcher and two other people in an accident. today is the first day of jury deliberations on the six charges including the murder charge and they will resume those deliberations on monday. the chairman of the prince william county board of supervisors wants to reject its share of $249.5 million in federal stimulus funds. the money designated to help the county hire new teachers,

but corey stewart says it is a sign of how out of touch congress is with fiscal responsibility an good government. he made the comments on a cable talk show. prince georges county is saying yes to $115 million in stimulus money to give people who live there faster internet. that federal grant will help to upgrade the broad band connections in element elementary schools and public builds and it is a story making headlines where you live tonight. for more go to wusa9.com. find your community in our where you live section and keep up with what is happening in your neighborhood. if you have a story or a tip we want it. contact us and be part of the wusa9.com team. was it showbiz, serious biz or a publicity stunt? comedy central stephen colbert testified before a house judiciary committee on immigration. he spent one day working on a farm in upstate new york and he was called to testify on whether or not undocumented

farm workers ought to be offered a path to citizenship. republican cans were not amused in would you call yourself an expert witness. >> i believe one day of me studying something makes me an expert. >> this is harder work. >> certainly harder than this. >> you don't want to return to it. >> i don't want to even watch green acres anymore. >> reporter: okay. maybe a little amused. colbert was recruited by the farm workers union as part of the take our jobs campaign. it says his attention has brought 3 million people to its website. colbert was invited to testify at the hearing and it's not unusual for that to happen. sometimes senator and members of congress ask high profile folks to come in and testify because they want to draw attention to an issue that otherwise might be overlooked but colbert came in character which has me wondering if it was a worthy endeavor.

never a waste of time to write mcginty's mail bag. that is mailbag@wusa9.com. virginia one of five states asked to toughen up watch over the chesapeake bay. they say it is not confident the plan submitted by virginia, west virginia, delaware, pennsylvania and new york can cut the pollution enough to heat the goals. the agency did call maryland and dc's plans for a pollution diet a strong start. you can read manufacture about the ruling at wusa9.com. just click on living green. and we were sort of living sweaty today. it was kind of hot. >> it was hot. it wasn't humid. can't be humid and 99 degrees. doesn't work that way. >> was it 99. >> it was 99 today. >> not a monthly record because daily record and the 66th time we have hit 90. >> one more 90 in us. >> we may have. take you up to minnesota. minnesota, wisconsin. a lot of showers and

thunderstorms. this is a place in minnesota north of row chester. and the dam could have collapsed. we had a bunch of vacuations and houses and cars swepted up. more rain is in in the forecast for on the and tomorrow. the dam is not broken but they did evacuate. that is north of row chester and 100 miles southeast of the twin cities. for us, a different story. temperatures will go down now. 87 tomorrow. maybe a shower, maybe a sprinkle. should not affect the terps game at all. low 70s on sunday. that's a shocker. that will be a jolt. maybe some springles. maybe a drizzle or shower by the end of sunday. not a wet day. just a lot of clouds. the wet day looks like monday. showers and rain and thunderstorms upper 70s. break down tomorrow.

sunshine to start. maybe a shower. 74. 81 by lunchtime. 87 by evening. very weak cold front is pushing through. not going to generate many showers. the best chance of showers will be hagerstown west ward. still 92 downtown. are you kidding me? 90 in leesburg. 91 as far as hagerstown and 91 fredericksburg. for tonight, clear to partly cloudy. breezy and mild. lows 64 to 7. winds southwesterly at 10 to 15. we have the full harvest moon tomorrow and it's national observe the moon day. get out and observe the moon. lows on the in the 60s outside of the beltway. low 70s downtown. 71 downtown. 67 in rockville. 66 in bowie and 66 also in reston. 65 in sterling. saturday morning, partly cloudy, breezy and warm. slight chance of a shower. 60s and 70s to start. by afternoon, plenty warm. nothing record setting, though. partly cloudy, slight chance of a shower. highs 84 to 88. winds northwesterly at 10 to

15. this skinny line of showers approaching pittsburgh and back in to kentucky, that's the cold front. not paying a lot of hope on it that's the only hope of a shower during the day. few and far between. 87 tomorrow. much cooler on sunday. low 70s. locate the umbrella over the weekend. upper 70s on tuesday and morning showers and very nice on wednesday and thursday and friday of next week and next friday we go to the mid-70s which will be average. >> national observe the moon day really? >> get to national look out the window day. from our weird news file, what the heck is so darn funny? we may never know but check out this speech from the prime minister in jen knee that v.a. he is doing the swiss equivalent of the blah blah blah when he starts to lose it [ laughter ] he does it again.

he just can't seem to get it together. the crowd seems to be in on the joke, whatever it is. if only we spoke german, which is, by the way what they speak. [ music throughout ] [ male announcer ] looking for a complete picture of your money?

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a new episode of medium kicks off tonight. it premier on cbs followed by csi new york an the new tom selleck drama, blue bloods. sunday morning on biocentury this week, top weight loss doctors talk obesity drugs. that is sunday morning 8:30. biocentury this week. in the mail bag on the, money as motivation. we ask for your thoughts on a school principal who's encouraging kids to be on class by fining them $5 if they are tardy. michelle says she has firsthand evidence it will work. >> when my family traveled by car

. then this on a proposal in fairfax to open the shoulder lanes on i-66 24 hours a day -- well, kenny, one can only hope because personally i try to avoid 66 at all costs because it can back up anytime, day or night. of course the real problem the restriction to two lanes each way inside the beltway. but that, my friend, is a topic for another mcginty's mail bag. if you would like to join the conversation, write us at wusa9.com. that's our report. i will be back at 11:00 with anita brickman.

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now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment news magazine in the world. >> sarah palin, the new interview. >> welcome to wasilla, "e.t."

>> sarah on daughter bristol's dancing debut. >> that was cool when she whipped it off. she was like i'm going to dance. >> back home with the palins in alaska. the rally, the ride along. >> we're going to our only dance studio in wasilla. >> will sarah be in the audience on monday? >> lindsay lohan, in jail, no bail. the troubled star handcuffed in court today. how long will she behind bars? >> is the woman accusing ashton of cheating claiming to be good friends with demi, the new text message bombshells. >> in tonight's "e.t." slide show, leann rimes and eddie cibrian holding hands. janet jackson with her man in new york city. hey britney, are you ready? brand new scenes from the new episode of "glee." >> tom selleck on our stage sharing memories with mary. >> i remember being in hawaii with you. >> it's very romantic. >> you are such a tease.